


Teen Wolf, Season 2, Episode 2, Shape Shifted

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s02e02 Shape Shifted, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 02, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 12:53:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16137650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series. Complete.





	Teen Wolf, Season 2, Episode 2, Shape Shifted

Open to an incredibly uncomfortable dinner scene at Isaac’s house. Literally, as soon as it opens, before any dialogue is spoken, everything about the scene just gives off an incredibly uncomfortable feeling.

I give everyone involved in making this scene credit.

Isaac is trying to avoid telling his dad what grade he’s making in one class, and being rather menacing, his dad insists Isaac tell him the grade.

It’s revealed he’s making a D. Calmly, his dad declares he’s not angry but does have to punish Isaac. He assigns Isaac with washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, and there’s a brief moment where Isaac ever-so-slightly relaxes.

The moment doesn’t last.

Losing control, his dad manages to hit Isaac with a shard of plate right near the eye.

When Isaac points out his dad could have _blinded_ him, the irredeemable monster sprouts out eye rolling attempts at justification for his abuse. Isaac pulls the shard out, and his werewolf powers quickly heal him. Running outside, Isaac grabs his bike and pedals away. Hopping into the car, his dad follows.

Across the street, Jackson is taking out the trash, and being confronted with a scene of a teenage boy on a bike being chased by a grown man in a car, he declares them both freaks.

As Isaac’s father is driving, it starts raining. Eventually, stopping near an alley, he finds Isaac’s bike abandoned.

Appearing, a kanima kills him. There’s a theory this kanima might have been Kate, but I’m not sure. Matt wanted Coach Lahey dead, but even if he didn’t, Jackson himself might have subconsciously wanted this.

Jackson’s known about the abuse for some time. He’s never said anything. He makes careless, cutting statements about it when he does. Yet, despite all my issues with Jackson, I don’t view him as evil or utterly callous. Him not saying anything isn’t good, but there are sympathetic possibilities for why he didn’t. He could have been conflicted, and seeing what he just saw might have brought those feelings to the forefront.

After the credits, Allison breathes on her car window, and the word ‘midnight’ appears.

In the woods, she and Scott meet, and Scott asks about her grandfather. She assures him Gerard doesn’t know he’s a werewolf. They snog, and she tells him it’s date night for her parents.

The next scene is of said parents torturing the human principal of the high school into resigning with the help of some other hunters.

So, future Chris is still in the convenience store or napping as Scott drives, right? Because, I don’t buy this at all. Do I believe Chris and Victoria could and would, both separately and together, torture a human under certain circumstances? Yes. Do I believe this is one of them? No. Either they bribed him, blackmailed him, or convinced the school to let him go/transfer him and start bringing them in.

Meanwhile, running into an abandoned train station, Isaac calls for Derek. When he explains his dad might be dead, Derek asks, “What did you do?”

I just love the way this line is delivered. There’s no judgement, and I can just imagine him mentally sighing and going, ‘Whelp. Leaving my new charge with his abusive parent probably wasn’t the best idea. Have to be more careful about that sort of thing in the future. Now, onto figuring out how to fix this.’

Isaac replies it wasn’t him.

At school, Stiles is worried about Scott possibly maiming him during the full moon, and Scott assures him everything’s under control. He’s the annoyingly love-struck type of friend who doesn’t understand the concept of TMI during this scene.

When Stiles opens his locker what seems like an endless amount of chains fall out. Coach voices the mood of the room: He’d like to know, but knowing might be worse. Therefore, he’s just going to walk away.

Helping pick up the chains, Scott’s werewolf senses tingle, and he says there’s another werewolf nearby.

Over in another part of the room, Isaac looks up, and I’m not sure if this is an implication he heard Scott or if it was just to make a cool shot.

Outside, Lydia and Allison are talking. Lydia still doesn’t remember anything, but she’s happy about losing nine pounds.

I do not appreciate this line, and frankly, I expect better from the show. Going without food for two or more days isn’t something that should be encouraged in teenage girls, and slapping on the fact it wasn’t a voluntary choice on her part doesn’t make it better.

They go inside, and everyone literally stops to stare at Lydia.

On the field, Stiles convinces Coach to put Scott in a position so that he can try to figure out how who the other werewolf is.

Over to the side, Jackson wants a camera from Matt. It has to be able to record in low-light for the duration of the night. Matt wants money, and Jackson agrees.

When practise starts, Scott sniffs all his teammates. Danny gives the name of his aftershave, and smiling happily, Scott says it’s nice.

Claiming a sore shoulder, Jackson sits the practise out, and Scott goes up against Isaac. There’s a cool shot of them landing in front of one another with identical yellow eyes. Then, the police appear, and Isaac begs Scott, “Please, don’t tell them.”

Next, Isaac is being led away by the police. Scott tells Stiles they’re talking about Coach Lahey being killed, and Stiles wants to know if Isaac is a suspect. He explains, if he is, the police have the right to lock him in a holding cell for 24 hours. Scott wonders how good a holding cell would be at containing a werewolf during the full moon, and Stiles doesn’t place much confidence in the cell lasting the night.

In class, Stiles suggests teenagers have a better chance of surviving the bite, and Scott asks if Isaac being a teenager won’t be a detriment to the police’s plan to hold him. No, solid evidence or a witness overrules Isaac’s minor status. Realising something, Stiles turns to asks Danny where Jackson is.

Being a neighbour of Isaac’s, Jackson is talking to the police in the principal’s office.

They decide they need to go to the principal’s office, and they accomplish this by throwing wads of paper at the Harris’s back, and then, accusing each other of being the culprit.

Since Scott with his super-hearing was the only one who needed to go to the principal’s, and since Harris doesn’t seem to hate him as badly as he does Stiles, Scott could have just asked to go to the bathroom or to get a drink of water.

In the office, Sheriff S characterises what Coach Lahey did as “hitting”, and Jackson corrects Coach Lahey was, “beating the crap out of him”. Sheriff S asks if Jackson ever told a teacher or a parent, and Jackson answers in the negative.

Sheriff S’s contempt for Jackson raises through the roof, and he makes the comment, “It’s funny that the kids getting beaten up are always the ones who least deserve it.”

In the hallway, Stiles tries to hide behind a magazine when his father comes out.

For some reason, Sheriff S isn’t fooled by such tricks, but he’s too busy with everything else to deal with his son at the moment.

Coming out, Gerard reveals himself as the new principal. Inside the office, Gerald figures out Scott is the same Scott who dated Allison. He assigns Stiles detention.

At Jackson’s locker, Lydia tries to have a genuine conversation with him, but he’s an arrogant jerk who thinks she’s trying to get back together with him.

Meanwhile, Scott runs outside to see a Isaac being driven away in a squad car.

Derek pulls up, and Scott blames him. Derek acknowledges the blame, but they’re both wrong.

It could be argued he’s indirectly responsible in, if Isaac wasn’t a werewolf, he wouldn’t have healed, wouldn’t have run, and his dad wouldn’t have followed him and ended up killed, but Isaac didn’t kill his dad, and there’s no evidence Coach Lahey was targeted due to Isaac being a werewolf.

Scott says he’s going to call a lawyer, and I’m not saying I don’t believe this, but I do wonder if he really thinks finding and retaining a lawyer over the phone is something he can easily do for Isaac.

Derek makes it Isaac is screwed once the police do a thorough search of the house, and Scott resignedly hops into the car.

Over at the Argent's, Gerard takes some pills. He doesn’t care if a sixteen-year-old was thrown in a holding cell; he cares if said sixteen-year-old is going to turn into a werewolf come nightfall. Chris reluctantly answers it’s undetermined but likely. Then, noticing Allison standing in a nearby room, he closes the doors.

Meanwhile, Jackson pays Matt, and Matt tries to figure out if he and Allison are a couple.

At Isaac’s, Derek and Scott use flashlights instead of turning on the lights. I assume they do so, because, they don’t want someone seeing the lights and getting suspicious. Scott asks who killed Coach Lahey if not Isaac, and admitting he doesn’t know, Derek nevertheless makes it clear he trusts Isaac.

Eventually, the conversation comes around to Scott realising Derek saw him blatantly sniffing his teammates at practise. He asks if it was bad, and the answer is it was extremely bad.

Back at the Argent's, a deputy leaves the house, and Gerard and Chris call Allison into the study.

The next scene has Scott and Derek going down into the basement. The most stomach-churning part of the episode, for me, at least, happens when Derek shows Scott a human-sized refrigerator/freezer with a padlock on it. Opening it reveals scratches spread throughout the entire inside. Some of them are bloody.

In the school parking lot, Stiles is talking to Allison on the phone, and they figure out the deputy’s taking wolfs bane to the station to kill Isaac.

Even with Gerard around, this is an incorrect assumption on their part. The deputy could just be under orders to use the wolfs bane to determine if Isaac actually is a werewolf, or he could be under orders to use it to subdue Isaac and bring him to the Argents.

Both still are bad, but Chris and Victoria currently have enough control that Gerard isn’t going to order the death of a potentially innocent sixteen-year-old just yet.

Back in the basement, Scott says Derek has to stop, and Derek makes it clear he’d never turn someone who didn’t consent. Scott asks if Derek told Isaac about the Argents, and Derek answers yes.

Scott characterises Isaac as an idiot for still choosing to accept.

I’ve never liked Scott’s anti-werewolf stance. What Peter did to him was horrible, but he refuses to look past this to see other people could genuinely want it.

This is an imperfect metaphor, but compare the bite to some sort of sexual activity. If a person is sexually assaulted, they may never want to do this particular sexual activity or possibly any sexual activity ever again. I would never tell them they’re wrong or intentionally make them feel bad for this. If they wanted therapy or something so that, maybe, someday, they would want/be able to be more sexual, I’d support them, but if they were fine with their lack of sexual desire, I would be, too. However, if they took the attitude no one should partake in this sexual activity, because, since they didn’t want it, no one else ever truly can, there’d a problem with their attitude.

On a much milder example, I was accidentally exposed to a certain food when I was younger that caused a reaction. It didn’t make me sick, but it was the type of food most people wouldn’t feed a little kid. To this day, I still avoid this food. On the other hand, a family member loves this food, and I have never thought they shouldn’t eat it. They always make sure it won’t accidentally come into contact with me/my food whenever we eat together, and we’re both happy.

If someone who had a similar experience as I did decided they wanted to try said food again, I’d encourage this. If they found they actually liked it now, good for them. I still won’t be trying it, but I’m happy they now have another food they like.

Revealing he knows Scott is still dating Allison, Derek makes the good point, if he knows, it won’t be long before the Argents find out, too. He tries to convince Scott to join his pack, but Scott refuses.

Derek starts to leave, and I assumed he brought Scott along so that they could take and dispose of the freezer. Scott says he wants to help Isaac.

I wonder if Scott really believes Isaac is innocent of killing Coach Lahey or if his statement of, “He’s innocent,” is him saying, due to the abuse, Isaac doesn’t deserve legal repercussions for killing him.

In Jackson’s bedroom, after setting up the camera, he does some posing before going to bed.

Meanwhile, the deputy hunter is driving. Arrows hit his tires, and when he gets out, an arrow hits his leg.

In Roscoe, Stiles talks to Allison on the phone. He says Scott is at Isaac’s.

I mentioned before I like listening to Teen Wolf Meta Podcast. One of the people on it is athenadark. On Tumblr, she and another meta writer, discontentedwinter, had a conversation about how this episode doesn’t make sense in a lot of ways. I’m not going to link the post, but it’s an interesting read. The lighting in certain scenes is also brought up, and I’m even worse when it comes to lighting than I am at paying attention to most wardrobe choices.

The next scene is of Allison going down the basement. Scott’s on the floor, and she kneels in front of him. Opening her bag to reveal the chains, she asks if they have to do this. Looking up with his werewolf face, he says yes, and when she asks where, he looks at the fridge.

I read an interesting meta stating Scott deliberately destroyed the fridge in order to hurt Isaac. Without it, Isaac would have no potential justification for killing his father. However, as I said earlier, I thought Derek had brought Scott to help him remove it, and I just assumed this was Scott’s way of doing what wasn’t done earlier: Trying to remove potential evidence the police would use to establish motive for Isaac killing his father.

At the station, Isaac is in a holding cell. He’s sporting a similar pose to the one he had earlier, only now, he has werewolf eyes.

Back in the basement, Scott climbs inside the freezer, and Allison is reluctant to lock him in. Pleading with her, he says he doesn’t want to hurt her. She leans down to kiss him before complying.

The next scene has Stiles and Derek sitting in Roscoe outside the police station. It’s established all the keys to the cell are in a password-protected lockbox in Sheriff S’s office, and Stiles either somehow knows the combination or is confident he can break in without it. Derek decides he’ll distract the female officer at the front desk, and aside from having issues with this plan due to Derek being a person of interest, Stiles wants to know exactly Derek plans to say to her.

When I first saw this scene, I thought it was obvious he planned to flirt with her. I think he expected it to be obvious to Stiles, too, based on the exasperated look he shoots at him.

Inside, Derek does pretty good at flirting, and Stiles sneaks past. It’s not a bad plan, but I don’t see why Stiles couldn’t have just said he left something in his dad’s office, wanted to wait for him in there, etc. and walked straight in.

Also, this deputy could have Tara Graeme if she’d been given a slightly different personality, but no.

I’ve read Teen Wolf didn’t like to do Other Darrens, and it was good about not. However, I’m pretty sure they had, at least, one instance where they did.

Regardless, I am never going to forgive the show for what they tried to sell with Tara Graeme.

At Isaac’s, Scott is locked inside the freezer. He yells for Allison to leave, and she does.

Over in Sheriff S’s office, Stiles discovers the keys are missing, and we see the deputy who was shot with the arrow heading towards Isaac’s cell.

I’ll plead guilty of all charges of selfishness, lack of righteous motivation, etc., but if I got shot with an arrow, I’d be, ‘Yeah, someone else can deal with the potential werewolf. I’m going to call someone to see if they think I should seek medical care, and depending on the answer, I’m either going to the nearest hospital, or I’m going home, popping some medicine, and curling up in bed. Laters.’

Running into him, Stiles sees the arrow, and before he can do anything, the deputy grabs him, covers his mouth, and starts dragging.

Back at Isaac’s, Allison is upstairs when a kanima appears.

This might be Kate. Jackson quickly latches onto Matt. Allison isn’t angry enough to draw a kanima to her, but if Kate is lost, confused, and feral, she might be drawn to the one person she’s always truly loved.

Meanwhile, Stiles manages to pull a fire alarm. Isaac attacks the deputy, and coming in, Derek smashes the syringe full of wolfs bane. Isaac starts to go after Stiles, but Derek howls/roars/growls at him.

When an unmoving Isaac peeks back out, he’s human again.

Over at Isaac’s, Scott breaks out of the freezer. When he gets to the kitchen, the kanima leaves.

Back at the station, Sheriff S turns off the alarm, finds Stiles standing in front of Isaac’s empty holding cell, and sees the unconscious deputy on the ground. Pointing to said deputy, Stiles claims, “Uh, he did it.”

Don’t police stations have cameras? Is Derek planning to steal/destroy the footage?

The next morning, Jackson throws the camera down when he sees nothing happened but him sleeping. Off-screen, his mother asks what happened, and he angrily replies nothing happened.

This could mean Matt is already tampering with the footage, or it could mean either what went down at Isaac’s didn’t happen or there was another kanima besides Jackson running around.

Fin.


End file.
